Livermore Chiropractic Discusses Proper Child Backpacks

March 2, 2019

Livermore Chiropractic Discusses Proper Child Backpacks

Children grow so quickly. As they are growing their bones and muscles are susceptible to temporary backaches, joint pain, and muscle strains. Do your part to ensure your kids never start on the long road of back-related problems and choose the right backpack for them. Our Livermore chiropractic clinic can help.

To be safe, make it a game. The simplest tool is right in your bathroom. Get out that scale and weigh. Your small child’s backpack should weigh less than 10 pounds. For a 150-pound child, 15 pounds is the recommended maximum. For a 75 pound child, 7.5 pounds is the most they should safely carry.

Over-heavy backpacks can:

Reduce blood flow

Lead to poor posture

Cause headaches

Disrupt natural curve of the middle and lower back

Cause the spine and muscles to lean to over compensate

Place undue stress on the lower back

Tips for choosing a backpack:

Try to get your child into the habit of wearing a backpack correctly, i.e., putting it on right and picking it up right. If you and your child follows these rules it’ll go a long way to maintain good spinal health.

Squat or kneel to pick up the backpack

Avoid twisting or bending picking up the backpack

Lift with the legs (goes for everything)

Slip it on (use a waist high table if you can)

Always wear both straps

Adjust the straps so the pack fits snugly

Always use the waist straps

If you are in the market for a new backpack make sure it has all or most of the following criteria:

Two Straps

Single strapped satchels are best avoided. It makes your child uneven and places the load off center on one side of their body. Two straps balance the load on both of their shoulders.

Realistic Size

We’ve all seen that kid with the bag bigger than they are; funny as it looks it’s no laughing matter. A child’s backpack should be no bigger than the child's back and it should lie 1-2 inches below the shoulders, and no more than 4 inches below the waist.

Padded Straps

Wide shoulder straps distribute the load over more surface area and wider is better, with a minimum of two padded inches the best way to go.

Padded Back

A padded back alleviates any nasty pressure points and protects from that pencil case or game system poking the spine.

For more information contact our office at Contreras Chiropractic today.

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I'm surprised to find myself writing this for two reasons. In my OTHER life, I didn't believe that any benefit could come from Chiropractic care. And secondly, even now, I'm not so fond of testimonials. But here I am in my NEW life doing new things.